Is “Their Eyes Were Watching God” Feminist?

The question posed in the title is quite the difficult one. There are reasons to vouch both ways. One could argue that the novel carries a strong feminist dialogue from the very get-go, with the imagery of Janie walking into town in her overalls, without the man that she left with, and with a sense of dignity emanating from her. During parts of the book, Janie strongly believes that she does not need a man to complete her, such as right after the death of her second husband, Joe, and her third husband, Tea Cake. After a big fight with Jody, Janie thinks to herself “Why must Joe be so mad with her for making him look so small when he did it to her all the time? Had been doing it for years.” The way I see it, this quote is very powerful, because it helps shed light on a problem between the relationship between men and women in a way that Jody could not see it.

            However, for every empowering, feminist idea that can be found in the novel, there are many equally oppressive ideas that can be found in the book. For instance, the ideas that Janie’s first two husbands have for who she should be are startlingly possible. For instance, Logan seems to think that the point of a woman’s existence is to make the life of her husband easier, as can be seen when he tells Janie “If Ah kin haul de wood heah and chop it fuh yuh, look lak you oughta be able tuh tote it inside. Mah fust wife never bothered me ‘bout choppin’ no wood nohow. She’d grab dat ax and sling chips lak uh man. You done been spoilt rotten.” Another negative influential man that comes into Janie’s life is Joe, who also has sexist ideals, although they are quite different than those of Logan. Joe thinks that “A pretty doll-baby lak you is made to sit on de front porch and rock and fan yo’self and eat p’taters dat other folks plant just special for you.” This is also problematic, being a push very far into the other direction, with the idea that women are too fragile to be doing a “man’s” work, and that they are meant to be a sort of belonging of their husbands.

            In the end, I would say that when Tea Cake comes around and swoops Janie out of her old life, the novel is really affirmed as a feminist book. After all, in the only relationship of Janie’s that is idolized, the man and the woman are seen more as equals, who pay respects to each other’s wishes. While there are some negative, seemingly awful things about the relationship, such as the beating of Janie, it seems that the positive far outweigh the negative, as both people are content and happy in their relationship.